Bicycle Parking

We’ve been waiting for years now to see some physical changes to accommodate the huge increase in daily bicycling. We did get an odd set of painted bike lanes and green bike route signs, and a significant number of bike racks for parking, before it all came to a halt due to the injunction three years ago. After perusing the much-anticipated Draft Bicycle Plan and its dense bureaucratese, full of overlapping redundant promises, I’m afraid we’ll be waiting a good while longer to see the kinds of changes that we ought to be getting.

If you pedaled around the city yesterday for Bike to Work Day you were no doubt happy to see the SFBC's energizer stations -- with fresh coffee and bagels -- and the occasional sidewalk bike mechanic ready to align your spokes or pump a little air in your tires. But back to reality today. How many times have you forgotten your pump, pedaled somewhere where there's no air around, and been left in a lurch? It's happened more than once to Supervisor John Avalos, who tells Streetsblog San Francisco he's asked the MTA to look into installing a number of bike pump stations around the city, similar to those that exist in some European and Asian countries:

San Francisco's annual Bike to Work Day drew a record 200,000 bicyclists this morning, according to early estimates, making it the most successful bike to work day since it began 15 years ago. Crowds of cyclists took advantage of the SFBC Energizer Stations to get food and coffee and make new friends in what has become the most exciting and politically important year for bicycle improvements in the city.

It’s Bike Month – which means there are scads of neophytes out there nationwide giving cycling a try.  Oh goody! But, oh baddy – it also means more improper locking – and we all know there are predators just licking their chops at the thought of stealing all or part of your bike. So we … Continued

It's bad enough Caltrain already has an image of being unfriendly to bicyclists, despite its efforts to prevent bumps on the system by boosting bicycle capacity on its trains, now comes this word: Staff is toying with the idea of making bicyclists pay a $1 surcharge that would raise an estimated $800,000.

What do you do when hundreds of cyclotourists descend on your bucolic village, clogging sidewalks with rented bikes? The Sausalito City Council is trying to quell a virulent public debate with a tried-and-true solution: install a lot of bike racks.

With spring here and nice weather, a lot of us will be riding our bikes more often, which means thieves will be on the prowl for poorly locked bikes. For anyone who has had a bicycle stolen, there are few feelings as dreadful. The SFBC has a great resource page with tips on how to secure your bike properly and what to do if you lose it, including calls to the SFPD and posts on Craigslist.

Nearly five years ago, legendary NYC bike mechanic Hal Ruzal and I walked the streets surrounding Bicycle Habitat in Manhattan and graded the bike locking ability of New Yorkers - producing many humorous and enlightening anecdotes. The resulting video aired frequently on bikeTV and at many festivals, and because of it - Hal is still frequently asked by complete strangers to judge their bike locking.